Brewery Review - Crooked Can Brewing Company

Crooked Can Brewing Company

Crooked Can Brewing Company was on the top of my list of must-visit breweries in Orlando because frankly, it looked fun.

Crooked Can Brewing Company is located in Winter Garden. The brewery had already caught my attention for brewing up some theme park-specific beers, especially for Universal. So far, my thoughts were these are professionally brewed and finished beers, though maybe at times I didn’t catch some of the promised flavors. Now everything about what I thought I knew about Crooked Can history is wrong. There are two breweries and tap rooms for Crooked Can. One in Ohio and one is Orlando. I assumed that this was the story of a Midwest-based brewing family who decided to open a Southern location after a vacation and flee the cold. Now, the founders are originally not from here or Ohio, but Colorado. And the Ohio brewery is actually the spinoff. The ownership believe they can make a profitable location based on their Plant Street Model in the Midwest, and having been to a few similar type locations on the Plains I think they may be right. And it's so successful in central Florida that at this moment they are vetting vendors for another location in Minneola, Florida.  But I am getting ahead of myself. 

Plant Street Market Entrance

The fun part for me is the Plant Street Market that Crooked Can is built within. It’s a open market that has so many options for food and drink. If you want BBQ, oysters, empanadas, sushi, cheese, and popsicles all in one meal, the vendors here have you. There is also tea and coffee. I have visited a few different venues like this and they are honestly great for everyone. Families, where everyone wants different things can find something to munch on with these stalls. Even more fun for me is a group of adults, where everyone grabs different things, shares, and chats over a beer or soda. We saw so many different types of groups from families, many biking to Plant Street, to dates, to friends, to solo drinkers looking for a good meal. Groups can sit outside under nice large tables, or inside where it’s a little louder with everyone wandering around. With plenty of parking across the street and a block away at a community park, it’s easy to see why Crooked Can is busy.  In fact the Craft Brewers Association reports that Crooked Can in the busiest taproom in the state and 17th busiest in the nation.  

Butcher Shop in Plant Street Market

We grabbed a Philly Mac & Cheese from MAC’d OUT. We loved it, it was nice and creamy and had plenty of meat and fillings. It was also big enough to share between two, with us being stuffed when finished. 

Philly Mac & Cheese

But how is the beer? Since I was sampling at the source for the first time, I got the flight so I could experience the flagships:

The Crooked Can Flight

• “Florida Sunshine”: This lager has 11 IBUs and a 5% ABV. It’s also in taste and drinkability is the Coors Light or Bud Lite of the group. Not for me, but it’s definitely for a lot of beer drinkers and likely the most approachable for anyone who wants an approachable beer.

• “Florida Sunshine Mango”: Now this was a bit of a surprise for me. I don’t do a lot of lagers and often fruit flavors can come off chemically or too sweet. The Mango flavor in this 10 IBU variant is super nice and highlighted nicely by the brew. It could be one of my favorite Orlando area lagers.

• “Pub Ale”: I am chasing the feeling that “London Pride” once got me and pub ales are traditionally the closest I can get. To me this was a lite pub ale, or pale ale as it’s listed, it wasn’t hoppy at all and I got some smooth malt flavors. It’s a crushable 5% ABV and the 10 IBUs explain why I kept thinking light and not piney at all.

• “Space Cowboi:” I declare this BlackStack worthy, my standard for IPAs. It was filled with Citrus flavors while not being overly piney. It’s a 6.3% ABV with a big 60 IBUs. I should have grabbed some to take home.

My view of the flight was professional and well-finished. But I didn’t see any unicorns or barrels on the list. I will say there were a lot more options than listed on the website, which seems to be a Central Florida thing where you can’t really see what’s at a taproom till you are at a taproom.

My date did grab a gose style sour. I was worried that it was going to be too puckery…but she loved it. And I got the sense that she would come again with me.

Who Drinks Here? Maybe you want to go where the theme park beer is made, and taste other members of their family? Maybe you want a theme park break where you have food and drink options. Those who drink here are those that want lots and lots of food and drink options. You want to be social, have a nice time, maybe enjoy some sun and some music. Families and friends, enjoy their days at Crooked Can.